After returning to Columbus from Jackson, Mississippi, for a job at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Dr. Tyree Winters rented an apartment in Hilliard for about six months before buying his condo on Front Street in the Brewery District. Winters, a pediatrician, grew up in Detroit but completed his residency at Ohio State.

He had only two items on his wish list when he began his hunt. First was to find a place that would maintain its value. Secondly, he and his roommate, Mark Harris, who grew up near Chicago, wanted a big-city feel without actually living Downtown. “Coming from big cities ourselves, you want to be in a place where you have things to do,” Winters says. “It’s a walkability factor that comes to play—if I can walk down the street and go grocery shopping or get a drink.” German Village was in close contention, but the Brewery District better fit their price range.

Winters admits he wasn’t initially looking for a condo, but single-family houses in the Brewery District are hard to come by, and the condo’s location more than makes up for it. It’s close to High Street, and their commutes to work are a breeze. Harris works Downtown as program director for the Ohio Community Development Corporation Association, and though Winters’ office is in Hilliard, “it’s not too far away from the freeway, and it’s always going against the traffic,” he says.

They also like that the Brewery District coalesces with other nearby neighborhoods like German Village and Schumacher Place; they feel they are part of a larger community. “I love that,” Winters says. “It’s very easy to be active in this community.” They were initially concerned about parking, but an attached two-car garage solved that problem, and street parking is fairly easy to find, too. If there’s one thing they do miss, it’s a yard where their bichon-shih tzu, Charlie, can play. Still, nearby Scioto Audubon and Schiller parks provide quick escapes.